2025-09-20 –, Space 2
Learn how we made our FastAPI tests 10x faster by ditching Docker, going in-memory, and embracing simplicity (and sanity).
Modern Python apps deserve modern testing - fast, simple, and reliable.
We used to spin up MySQL in Docker, wait over 10 seconds per test, and cross our fingers that CI wouldn’t choke. Eventually, we’d had enough.
So we ripped out the containers, swapped MySQL for in-memory SQLite with SQLModel, and streamlined our test suite from sluggish to snappy. The result? A 10x speedup, simpler setup, and happier developers.
In this talk, I’ll show how we turbocharged our FastAPI testing setup by:
* Overriding dependencies the right way
* Using SQLite in-memory for speed and realism
* Writing clean, useful tests without relying on heavy infra
You’ll leave with practical techniques to make your test suite faster, your CI quicker, and your dev loop more joyful - without the complexity of Docker or the chaos of over-mocking.
No containers. No headaches. Just fast, clean Python tests.
Intermediate
Shahar Polak is Head of Engineering at ImagenAI, where his team edits hundreds of millions of photos a year - without losing their minds. He was a founding engineer at BreezoMeter, later acquired by Google, and has nearly 20 years of building things that (mostly) don’t break. He also lectures at the Technion and Reichman about leadership, scaling teams, and surviving startup chaos.